Kristen Girard Illustration

Down to Earth, Yet Visionary, Art and Stories That Awaken the Heart

It only takes one candle of light to shine a ray of hope, to be a beacon of positivity in the night…

The gale force winds of darkness whistles in our ears, almost screeching – and then hauntingly soothing in turns. The horribly strong, persistent winds beckon us to lie down, to curl up tight against the frigid cold, and let them blow out our light with a puff of apathy. The winds of darkness seek to blow away all light, all hope, all love in gusts of greed and self-righteousness. The winds are cold, unrelenting, and strong.

They whip through all the cracks in our lives, eager to dominate.

But the winds of darkness will never win.

They will never blot out our light – because we, too, are strong.

Our light of hope can spread in ways the darkness cannot comprehend - our light can grow with a kind word, a helping hand, and the sharing of true knowledge.

You can be the defiant candle that glows bright and strong. Persisting against all the breezes, gusts, and hurricane force winds of darkness.

When a second candle alights, compassion and love join to unite the flames of hope into a web of connection that grows stronger and stronger. Each ray of light forms a sparkling web of life. It glows with life– bright amid the darkness, a shining constellation of heartfelt joy and understanding.

Sometimes the winds of darkness seem to overshadow us...

The darkness comes in many forms: from illness to chronic pain, to rage, prejudice, and hate. It comes in the guise of land developers paving over green woods and grass lands, for yet another mall. It comes in the form of poachers, pollution, and corporate greed. It strives to blot out all that is good in life, to put out all the lights.

Yet we will not stand quietly by.

We are not automations!

We are intelligent.

We can think for ourselves.

The dark siren song of wealth before common sense, before considering the long term consequences, before the health of every living thing on our sacred planet Earth – has no hold over us.

Our mission is to awaken the heart, encourage independent thought, and help our fellow creatures thrive by exploring the realms of imagination, science and spirituality.

Who is Kristen?

Kristen Girard is an artist who has stared down the dark, howling winds of blindness. She is a writer who has fought against the arctic winds of conformity. She is a creator who pulls on a windbreaker and steps out into the winds of darkness with a paintbrush of light and an artist’s palette charged with love. Kristen is an educator who slays ignorance by igniting curiosity and thoughtful inventiveness in her students. She rescues creatures great ( Clydesdale horses ), middling ( hungry rock climbers including her husband :) and small ( kittens and bees ) from the unrelenting winds of apathy.

When not up to her elbows in creativity, Kristen loves curling up with a good book, a cup of tea, and with Little Dud the Cat on her lap. If not there, Kristen can be found with carrots and apples hanging out at the stable with her Clydesdale horse, Big Mac. She spends a lot of time outside defying gravity by rock climbing or enjoying winter while skiing with her husband Kirby.

+ MFA in Illustration - Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford